YOU’VE MADE YOUR bed, now you have to lie in it.
That old chestnut was very much on my mind this week as Michael and I went mattress shopping.
Okay I’ve always been a bit of a princess and the pea when it comes to mattresses – it has to be the right height, the right mix of firm and soft, it has to keep me cool at night and I have to be able to fall into a deep sleep.
Mattress shopping seems like fun, until you realize that it’s a very expensive decision if you pick the wrong one… as we found out recently.
Our mattress of 10 years had served us well but now was sagging a little, was getting a lumpy in all the wrong places. A bit like me!
A visit to Sit n Sleep is kinda gross really. A shopfront warehouse jam-packed with nothing but…beds. Plus a smug carpet bagger snake oil salesman pointing you to a machine to test your comfort level. With a screen on the ceiling of the canopy guiding you through the various levels. 1 for pavement lovers or a 10 for fans of the quicksand variety.
You’ve heard the commercials…with owner Larry: ”We’ll match anyone’s advertised price or your mattress is freeeeeeeeeee” or more appropriate is the “yer killing me Larryyyyyy”. We ought to have known.
Anyway after rolling in the deep on 10-15 beds, spending a couple of hours we’d never get back,
we narrowed it down to two. But seriously testing a bed for 2-3 minutes is nowhere near enough to commit for a decade or more of zzzzzzs.
“You can keep the bed for 30 nights at home and if it’s not to your liking you can return it” Chad says (not his real name: to protect the douchebag)
So we decided to go with the most expensive one because you know because we had a good year and the 10yr warranty and if your spending 8+ hrs every night in something you might as well get it right!
Now Chad starts talking about throwing in pillows and sheets for free to sweeten the deal and mentions a restocked version of this bed for $1k off. Plus a promise of it being sanitized and mattress protected for ultimate cleanliness.
We’ve slept in a gazillion hotel beds and did not bat an eyelid — how bad could it be?
The bed we chose was a Technogel bed. If you believe the blurb “Technogel blends innovative German engineering and Italian design to create mattresses, pillows, seat pads and other consumer products that deliver exceptional comfort and ergonomic support. It is the first and only mattress brand to feature a thick layer of patented gel. As such, a Technogel mattress deliver cool, comfortable support that is scientifically proven to help you sleep better.”
We were so excited on delivery day.. everything went smoothly we washed the new sheets and made the bed and that night turned out the lights and turned in the bed.
Cut to: 8 hrs later I’m waking up for work and I am exhausted. Literally feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, I decided not to say anything to Michael, because you know maybe it was like a bad date that deserves a second dinner?
The next morning I wake up feeling even worse with a pain in my side, maybe it’s a kidney stone deciding it wants to pass through!
By day three I’m a zombie, so tired from tossing and turning I eventually drop a few questions “how do you like the bed? “Are you sleeping through the night?”
The hubby (ever honest) turns to me and says “I hate it” he said “I just didn’t want to disappoint you or seem like I was complaining.”
“Same.” We don’t need the full 90 days and our sleep-happiness was in dire need of being restored
immediately.
Now here’s the kicker — “Chad” decided we couldn’t return in because it was a restocked item. Which “Chad” failed to mention when we gladly signed the small print on his electric key pad’ but said we signed it so you know. Tough. A sale is a final sale.
Now, if you know my hubby. He’s Italian and let me tell you, you don’t wanna get on the wrong side of him. Let’s say Chad might end up sleeping with the fishes.
Calmly surpassing his inner Karen, he called customer service and told them our story. The decided to make an “exemption” and allowed us to exchange the bed for a one time only deal. So this next bed has to be the one. No pressure.
So… a week later we go to a different Sit n Sleep store and spend another hour trying out beds and let’s just say this bedtime story has a happy ending.
We chose a pillow-top bed a few grand cheaper than the modern space-age bed, it’s much more like our old one before it got beat up and I’m happy to report for the last few days we have both been sleeping like babies.
Moral of the story: beware of the salesmen and don’t always go for the flashy new more expensive option.
‘Til next time…Sleep well my darlings,
Craig
